After the Rain has Fallen
by Stella McCoy
Summary: Kirk's death has, predictably, hit his closest friends hard. Follow their thoughts and feelings on the night before Kirk's funeral.
1. Sulu

Okay, I don't own Star Trek. I would really, really like to, but I guess that's not possible. *sniff* I'll have to do without. Nor do I own the title, now that I think of it...Sting has that dubious honor...

This takes place after the first half-hour or so of Star Trek: Generations (many would say that's the only good part of the movie, but not me!) and is a collection of simultaneous thoughts and actions. Read and review! Reviews are bueno and I care what you think!

After the Rain has Fallen

Sulu 

  'It's a dark night in Tokyo,' Sulu reflected bitterly. Though none of the stars could be seen in the lighted haze of the city, Sulu wouldn't have seen them anyway, even if the city hadn't tainted the sky. At the moment, the only things he wanted to see were the images going through his head, memories of his former commander.

             James T. Kirk's death had hit him hard, as it would to anyone remotely close to the captain. He and the other bridge members had served together a long time, more than twenty years. Kirk was the father of that close-knit family, and losing the center is always the hardest part of all. That means everything must be restructured in order to keep from collapsing. 

             He shook his head in disgust. 'On the eve of your friend's funeral, you're treating his death as though it was a mere structural problem. You can deal with those. Simply replace whatever can't hold the weight anymore and you're set. But death, you shy away from it...' It was too true. Death was something that starship captains faced everyday, but when it actually comes it's to be treated with a decidedly clinical air.

            He walked, purely by instinct, towards the ocean. The water's calming rhythm had always eased his pain before, from childhood pangs of loneliness to the overwhelming feelings he'd gotten from pressures at Starfleet Academy. The ebb and flow of the tides had always reminded him, rather clichély, that life went on in its eternal cycles. Pain, especially the pain that comes with a loved one's death, was a part of that cycle and would never be parted from it. He snorted. Such poetic words weren't very calming to him at the moment.

            The water lapped gently against the shore as he approached, greeting him as though it had been hours as opposed to years since he'd last been there. With a complete lack of decorum, he shed his boots and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and placed his feet in the water's path, reveling in the sense of nostalgia it brought.

            He remembered Kirk, on their first five-year mission. He'd been so confident, so self-assured...everything Sulu aspired to be, even after all this time. Kirk's image was one that he strove to present to his crew, and Sulu never forgot the way Kirk ran his ship, the way Kirk took necessary risks without complaint, and the way he never seemed to regret a single decision. Kirk was so much more than his captain; he was his mentor, his friend, and his role model.

             Picking up a piece of driftwood, Sulu studied it. It was weather-beaten and imperceptively cracked, but when Sulu rapped it smartly on the beach, it held and refused to break. Chuckling a little, the former helmsman of James T. Kirk's _Enterprise _placed the driftwood reverently in the surf, watching as the outgoing flow captured it and sent it out to sea.

            Sulu stood to watch it, not caring that it would probably be back on the beach in a matter of minutes. The driftwood was a personal send-off for his former captain, a tribute to his moral, emotional, and physical strength. His steadfastness, morality, his enduring friendship...Sulu would never forget it.

 Watching it float impassively in the slight waves, Sulu abruptly came to attention and saluted. The driftwood, for its part, gave no reply, but Sulu sensed an inner calm come over him at the gesture, and he bent to put on his boots.

Don't forget to take a few minutes to review; I'd like to know what any and all of you think!


	2. Chekov

After the Rain Has Fallen  
  
Chekov  
  
The vodka bottle was in front of him, opened and begging to be drunk, but Chekov had no love in his heart for his native liquor tonight. Getting drunk, while it would erase the pain he felt in his heart, was not a good idea on the night before his captain's funeral.  
James Kirk had been a father to him in many ways, more ways than his own had ever been to him. Andrei Chekov was not a loving man, nor very supportive, and definitely had a perspective unlike Kirk's. Whereas Kirk had seen large pictures and small frames, Andrei had just seen little pictures. Just as he had always seen his son.  
Chekov balled his fist, tightening it as the memories swept over him. With a quick rap of his fist on the table, the memories halted. He hadn't come to this place, this bar, to remember his father. No, he came to honor the man who should've been.  
It was barely a week ago, when he and the captain had come here. It was the day before the launch of the Enterprise-B. Kirk had come back from Vulcan, where he'd been visiting with Spock and McCoy, neither of whom would be present at the maiden voyage. Chekov himself had just come from the Academy, from another day of teaching brave men and women the fine art of being a security chief. They had met to reminisce, and reminisce they had. Now Chekov did it alone.  
He remembered the laughing, hazel-eyed man who had sat across from him here, speaking fondly of encounters had in the previous Enterprise ships. Of Tholians and Horta, Klingons and Romulans, of the innocent Edith Keeler, of Khan, of Carol and David Marcus...the list seemed to dance from one fantastical tale to the next, and every time Chekov opened his mouth to contribute, he felt as though he could only diminish the great tales. He had been content to listen to his longtime friend and commanding officer, for Kirk's charisma had long exercised its power over men and women alike.  
Now Chekov did it alone.  
"Pardon me, Commander Chekov."  
Chekov looked up, finding one of his security cadets before him. "Is there something I can do for you, Cadet Mueller?"  
The young man fidgeted. "I'd like to express my condolences, sir. I know that Captain Kirk was a good friend of yours."  
Chekov studied the earnest man before him, and noted with amusement that the man seemed to morph from Cadet Jonathan Mueller to Ensign Pavel Chekov. "Please sit, Cadet. And thank you."  
"It's the least I can do, sir. I mean, I feel bad about it and I didn't know him." Mueller sat, unknowingly evicting the echo of Kirk from the chair across from Chekov.  
"I think everyone knew the captain," Chekov replied. "Because he was like the best part of humanity right in front of us all."  
"He was everything I wanted to be," Mueller whispered. "He was courageous and strong, loyal and honorable. He did so many impossible things, so many good things, and when I met him, just after entering the Academy, he was so modest. He was a good man."  
"He was a good man," Chekov agreed. "I will never forget him."  
Mueller looked at the older man, noting the bemused look in his eye. "Is there something on my face, sir?" He began rubbing his face self- consciously.  
"No, no Mueller, there's nothing there." Chekov smiled at the man before him. "Right then, you sounded just like I used to. For a moment there, you reminded me of me."  
The man smiled. "Thank you, sir. That's the highest compliment I've ever been paid." He stood. "I'll, uh, see you in class, sir." With that, he turned and left.  
Chekov sat silently, staring at the chair he'd vacated for a few minutes. "So that's what it feels like," he murmured, "to be hero- worshipped." Taking the vodka bottle, he poured himself a drink and raised it. "To you, James T. Kirk. May you forever inspire generations of young Starfleet cadets." Downing the shot, he paid his bar bill and left.

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Don't forget to leave a comment on your way out! Thanks to the reviewers so far: Tavia, Mysterious Reviewer, Katharina-B, S. Mushita, and Miss Perfect. You guys rock.  
  
And hey...I almost made it to a year without updating. I'll try to do better next time.


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